Contactless, radio frequency identification (RFID)-type electronic tickets more commonly known as contactless readable tickets or contactless readable tags are equipped with an antenna and an integrated circuit in the form of an electronic chip connected to the antenna, the unit being produced on a flexible support. Contactless-type electronic tickets can remotely exchange and transmit data via inductive coupling, by means of their antenna using a reader also equipped with an antenna. The flexible support is made of paper, card or plastic. In an economical embodiment of the tickets, the antenna is printed by screen printing. Screen printing consists in printing the antenna coils on an electrically insulating substrate, preferably made of paper, using a conductive ink, for example, made up mainly of silver powder. It is possible to use a continuous manufacturing method to manufacture tickets equipped with screen-printed antennas.
Thus, the applicant has personally developed a manufacturing method in which screen printing of the antenna is carried out on one side of an endless paper strip, the width of which allows the manufacture of one or more tickets. On the reverse side of the paper strip to the side bearing the antenna, markers made up of printed marks or holes are made in the feed direction of the paper strip such that the area corresponding to each ticket and possibly the rows of tickets in the width of the paper strip can be located. These markers are essential to the method for continuously manufacturing the tickets. Indeed, at each ticket manufacturing stage, since the paper strip is completely unwound then rewound so that it can be handled and stored between two manufacturing steps, the exact position of each ticket is located. Thus, the method of continuously manufacturing the contactless tickets is broken down into a number of steps consisting of printing the client illustration, printing the antenna, installing the chip and carrying out the final lamination which consists in depositing the layer preprinted with the client illustration on the ticket side bearing the antenna and the chip. Printing the antenna requires several runs. Indeed, the production of the antenna consists in printing the coils of the antenna forming a conductive spiral, producing a dielectric strip perpendicular to the coils and printing a conductive ink bridge on the dielectric strip allowing one of the ends of the antenna to be connected to the connection terminal which will be used to provide for electrical connection with the chip.
The step consisting in positioning the electronic chip on the tickets at the location provided in order to be connected to the antenna is an essential step in the manufacture of the ticket and requires a high degree of precision. The chip is placed exactly at the desired place as a result of the markers already set out on the opposite side of the support of the antenna and of optic detection of the markers. However, positioning may be carried out wrongly and, in this case, the connection of the chip to the antenna is defective. The markers are also used for cutting the strip into unit tickets.
The major disadvantage of this type of continuous manufacturing method is that the silver ink making up the antenna is transferred by friction onto the back of the paper strip during the successive windings and unwindings which are necessary in order to complete ticket manufacture. When the back of the paper strip is preprinted with the client illustration, a mark appears, which can be seen by the naked eye, on the client illustration, which impairs the final aesthetic quality of the ticket. Furthermore, the transfer of ink could also cover the markers on the back of the paper strip in the instance where these are in the area of the antenna and thus hamper the optical location carried out during the ticket manufacturing and distribution steps. Thus, the steps which consist in positioning the chip and cutting the tickets could fail and cause a reduction in the ticket production output.